College of Pharmacy hosts Second Annual Health Fair Oct .16

To help celebrate American Pharmacists Month, students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo College of Pharmacy hosts its Second Annual Health Fair on Saturday, October 16, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Pharmacy buildings on 722 S. Aʻohoku St. in the UH Hilo University Park of Science and Technology. The event is free and open to the public.

Many activities will be available to promote healthy living, including a booth offering information on companion animals. There also will be booths on cardiovascular disease, cancer awareness, osteoporosis, sexual health, exercise and nutrition, diabetes and wellness education, smoking and asthma control awareness and a "brown bag medication check" to allow participants to bring their own medications for evaluation.

“Many people in the community who didn't know anything about the College of Pharmacy came to our health fair last year so we hope we'll see some familiar faces as well as some new ones,” said Mimi Pezzuto, Pharmacy faculty and adviser to the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP), the UH Hilo group that is sponsoring the fair. “We're very proud of the expertise and growth of our students. And now for the first time, we have a full complement of four classes to participate. It's very exciting.”

Aaron Chun, a third-year student from Hilo and president of APhA-ASP, said the students want to make a difference to the community.

“The College of Pharmacy Health Fair is the vision of our professor, Dr. Carolyn Ma, who is now on leave because she was recently in an accident,” Chun said. “Our organization wanted to take it on for her sake, and we hope it lives up to her expectations.”

UH Hilo’s College of Pharmacy, established in 2007, is the only school in the Pacific to offer a doctorate in pharmacy degree. The degree, also called a Pharm.D., is a professional degree requiring four years of study after completion of at least two years in a pre-pharmacy program in an accredited college or university. A Pharm.D. from UH Hilo prepares students for a career in pharmacy by providing a diverse academic environment while offering real-life experience in clinical and retail settings.